UCLA-Memphis Postgame Quotes
September 07, 2014 | Football
No. 11 UCLA 42, Memphis 35
Sept. 6, 2014 – Rose Bowl Stadium
UCLA Head Coach Jim Mora
Opening Statement
“The crowd was awesome, especially because school is not in session. We felt their energy. The third down stuff helps and in the fourth quarter, they were there for us. We really appreciate that. It makes a big difference to our football team. Obviously, we still have a lot to work on – that goes without being said. But that's the game we play. Every week there is going to be some things that are good and some things that we have to improve upon. The main objective is always to get a win and we got a win.”
“But I'll tell you again, there's no satisfaction yet in the way that we are playing. I thought we played better on offense and certainly protected much better. I felt like we ran the ball well. At the end of the game, when you have to be able to run it and get a first down, they stuffed us three in a row, so we got to get that fixed. I was disappointed in the way we played on defense, especially coming out of last week.”
“They are very unorthodox on offense and they do some untraditional things. When you are playing a team like that, you have to be extremely disciplined in your assignment. I felt like guys at times were trying to do too much, rather than doing what they were supposed to do. When you try to do too much, ultimately what happens is, you get exposed. In the third quarter, we simplified it a little bit and concentrated on trying to do our job. That first half was not good enough and not anywhere near where we are capable of playing or where we will play.”
“Like I said, the main objective is to get a win and we are 2-0. We are going to Texas this week and we are excited about that. But we have to put together a great week of practice and we have to go out and perform as a team. We cut the penalties down on offense and defense but we upped them on special teams. Somehow we have to figure out a way to get that fixed and we are working on it constantly. The focus for us is on being happy that we got the win and being satisfied on where we are and working really hard every single day to get better as a football team. That's probably what every coach in the country is saying right now.”
On the trouble Memphis' misdirection offense was giving UCLA
“It's an unorthodox offense. They swoop their line and quarterback and you don't see it very often and it is hard to prepare for. It is hard to get a grip on where the football is. We are a fast defense and at times we have a tendency to over pursue because we are fast. You can be fast, but you still have to play square with great pad level and at times we weren't doing that. It certainly gave us problems. I hope we don't see an offense like that again for a while.”
On the way Brett Hundley responded after the pick six to leading the game-winning drive
“They were playing man on the pick six and Brett didn't see the guy. The guy jumped it and took it in for six. But what you see of good performers is when they need to come up with a drive and need to come up with a play, they do. When Brett came to the sideline, he was very cool and he was very calm. He understood the mistake he made. He wasn't getting down on himself. He played extremely well tonight. Once again, we dropped too many passes. His numbers were really exceptional, except for that one darn throw, that I know he wants back.”
Overall assessment of Brett Hundley's performance
“I think Brett is just like everyone else on our team, it is just the details, the fundamentals. Once again, I thought he played very well except for that one throw. But that one throw could be the difference. But he recovered from that and put together a heckuva drive. I think he's making progress every day. He comes to work every day intent on getting better and I see it in the games.”
On what he saw with the offensive line
“I felt like we were more settled. The ball was snapped and we were moving together like you are supposed to. I thought the protection was excellent. We got sacked early in the game, but that was more of a coverage sack than anything. I felt like we opened up holes in the running game. We will go back and look at that last series where we needed to run the ball and get the first down.”
On the expectations of this team and what is going on around the country
“First of all, we appreciate everyone's expectations, but they are other's expectations. Honestly, while I respect it, it doesn't matter to us. We have our own standards and our own set of expectations. I tell them that our objective is to win and to find a way to remedy the mistakes that we are making and to get better as a football team. I told them last week that I loved their expectations but I don't want them to become a burden. I don't think people can fathom how hard it is to win a football game against anybody. Virginia kicked the dog out of someone today and this team won 63-0 last week. So it's not like we are just playing some guys. They are pretty good. You have to enjoy the win but at the same time, you have to be realistic about where you are. I think we are very realistic. We have a lot of work to do and we will get it done.”
Memphis Head Coach Justin Fuente
Opening statement:
“Obviously, credit goes to UCLA …They have fantastic players over there. Our kids battled as I knew they would. They were going to play, and we made some plays. They made a couple more, and they won.”
“They are a tough group of kids. They're hungry. They have success. They want to do well. We got an interception and a touchdown and the game was on -- credit to UCLA for responding. We just couldn't get down there in the end. They are so good up front in defense. It makes life so hard when you are so athletic.”
On his key player:
“Oh, at times he [Paxton Lynch] played well, at times he didn't. I am proud of him. That defense will make you make mistakes. I think operating in a great environment [and] playing some great defense is beneficial.”
“They have it in the backfield. At times we handled it pretty well. It was a fast football game today. Obviously this was a faster game than we played in the first game. This football team we just played, they're just really good. We need to continue to take care of our business and we will be okay.”
On what he learned about the team:
“If you judge them with what they showed today, it would be pretty easy to say that they are a tough group, they kept playing hard. We didn't always play well, but we played hard. We came here to try to win a football game not to just play. We didn't come here to look at the stadium and be at awe of the uniforms, but to go play. I am proud of that. I wish this group played a little even better at times … I knew our guys would get up to play in this game.”
